No, its not Anne Hathaways Yorkshire accent.
In August 2011,rioting broke outon the streets of Huddersfield.
Bricks were thrown at shopfronts, windows were smashed and CCTV cameras were destroyed.
Perhaps impressively, it also wasnt the worst thing about the film.
Adapted fromDavid Nicholls 2009 hit romance novel,Lone Scherfigs filmfell between two stools.
Over a two-hour movie, the structure becomes quickly repetitive and makes the story feel both rushed and empty.
Much more important than likeability is recognition.
We dont need to like a character to see them in ourselves and others.
The companionship offered by fiction doesnt have to be a love-in.
More or less the whole point of Dexter Mayhew inOne Dayis that he isnt likeable.
Handsome, privileged, entitled, unserious… hes everything Emma Morley isnt.
Dexters always been moneyed, so has never learned what money means.
Hes famous, so hes learned that hes more important than people who arent.
Hes handsome, so has learned that his good looks are what make him valuable, and so on.
Time and again, Dexter draws unhelpful (if understandable) conclusions from the world.
Emma sees all of that and therefore so do we.
Like her, we want Dexter to be better.
And because we recognise him, we know hes capable of it.
Nobody around Emma understands her loyalty to Dexter least of all her live-in boyfriend Ian but we understand it.
In the film, none of that knotty push-pull stuff comes across with Dexter.
Film Dexter is neither likeable nor recognisable.
Hes a cliche of playboy swagger whose occasional sadface moments reveal little but more self-regard.
We spend more time with him in crisis.
We meet his family but not hers.
Hes cocky, glib and occasionally hateful, but also vulnerable, underestimated and sweet.
And Ambika Mods Yorkshire accent?
One Day is out now onNetflix.
